Maze Challenges

Overview

Maze Challenges are one of the nine Exploration Challenge subcategories in Crimson Desert. They are tracked under the Winding Paths tab in the journal and count toward overall Exploration Challenge completion. There are 4 Maze Challenges spread across the regions of Pywel, and completing all four unlocks the Maze Pathfinder bronze trophy and achievement.

Unlike Spire Challenges or Sanctum Challenges, Mazes are entirely optional and have no story prerequisites. All four can be attempted as soon as you reach their locations in the open world, though some puzzles require specific Axiom Force abilities that are unlocked through story progression.

How Maze Challenges Work

Every Maze Challenge follows the same core structure. Three Engraved Stones are scattered throughout the maze area, and each stone is locked behind an environmental puzzle that must be solved before you can collect it. Once you have gathered all three Engraved Stones, you carry them to a central receptacle marked by a Mysterious Energy icon on the world map. Inserting all three stones activates an Abyss Cresset, which is both a permanent fast travel point and a challenge completion marker.

The puzzles guarding each Engraved Stone vary between mazes. Some require flipping stone plates with Force Palm, others demand precise use of Concentrated Light to manipulate pillars, and one maze uses a large-scale sun and moon symbol matching system. Each maze introduces its own twist on the shared Engraved Stone collection format.

Completing a maze also rewards you with an Abyss Artifact, making mazes a reliable source of these valuable items for players who want to strengthen their Abyss progression without repeating story content.

Required Abilities

Maze puzzles rely heavily on Axiom Force abilities. The following abilities are used across the four mazes:

The Dawnreach Maze specifically requires all three levels of Force Palm upgrades, since each leaning tower must be struck three consecutive times to push it fully upright. If you have not yet unlocked the third Force Palm tier, you will be unable to complete this maze. Force Palm upgrades are obtained through skill progression as you advance the main story.

All Maze Locations

The Ancient Rift Maze in Hernand is typically the first maze players encounter, since the Hernand region is explored early in the main story. The three Crimson Desert region mazes become reachable once you gain access to the wider open world later in the campaign.

Ancient Rift Maze

Location

The Ancient Rift Maze is found in the Ancient Rift area of northern Hernand, northeast of Trovak Camp. The entrance is marked by the standard Mysterious Energy icon on the world map.

Puzzle Solution

This maze is built around three sets of runestone pillars, each blocking a small nook that contains an Engraved Stone. To access each nook, you need to use Blinding Flash followed by Concentrated Light on the pillar sets. The Concentrated Light beam raises or lowers each pillar to an equal height, which opens the barrier and reveals the stone behind it.

After collecting all three Engraved Stones, return to the central area where the Mysterious Energy marker sits. Insert the stones into the three receptacles to activate the Abyss Cresset and complete the challenge.

Burhum Maze

Location

The Burhum Maze is located at the town of Burhum in the Crimson Desert region. When you first arrive, the area is occupied by an enemy faction. You can complete the maze without clearing the enemies, but fighting through them first makes navigation easier.

Puzzle Solution

The maze contains several side rooms, each with stone plates on the floor. Use Force Palm to strike the stone plates, which flips them and reveals the Engraved Stones hidden beneath. There are three stones total, one in each of the side rooms scattered around the maze.

Once you have all three Engraved Stones, climb to the top of the tallest tower in the maze area. The receptacles for the three stones are located at the top. Insert them to activate the Abyss Cresset and complete the Burhum Maze challenge.

Dawnreach Maze

Location

The Dawnreach Maze is located at Dawnreach, a town in the Crimson Desert region northeast of Tashkalp. Like Burhum, the area is initially controlled by an enemy faction. Clearing the enemies is optional but recommended.

Puzzle Solution

The defining feature of this maze is its leaning towers. Several towers in the area are tilted at steep angles, blocking access to rooms that contain Engraved Stones. You must use Force Palm to push each leaning tower back to an upright position. Each tower requires three consecutive Force Palm strikes to push fully upright, which means you need all three tiers of the Force Palm upgrade.

If you do not have the third Force Palm tier, the tower will not move far enough on the third hit and the room behind it will remain inaccessible. Check your Axiom Force skill tree to confirm you have the upgrade before attempting this maze.

After pushing all the leaning towers upright and collecting the three Engraved Stones from the newly accessible rooms, bring them to the central receptacle area and insert them to activate the Abyss Cresset.

Desert Border Maze

Location

The Desert Border Maze is the most complex of the four mazes. It is located in the Smoking Lands, the northern part of the Demeniss region, near the border with the Crimson Desert.

Puzzle Solution

This maze features 11 stone doors arranged around the area, each marked with either a sun or moon symbol. A central platform on the ground displays a diagram showing the correct configuration for all 11 doors. White markers on the diagram indicate moon symbols, while orange markers indicate sun symbols.

Your goal is to flip each stone door so that it displays the correct symbol matching the central diagram. Use Force Palm or Force Current to flip each door. The correct configuration is: doors 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 11 should show the sun symbol, while doors 2, 3, 7, 9, and 10 should show the moon symbol.

Once all 11 doors display the correct symbol, the puzzle completes and the Abyss Cresset activates. This maze does not use the Engraved Stone mechanic; instead, the door-flipping puzzle itself is the entire challenge.

Rewards

Each maze completion activates an Abyss Cresset that functions as a permanent fast travel point and also grants one Abyss Artifact. Abyss Artifacts are essential for upgrading Abyss Gear and progressing through Abyss content, making mazes a worthwhile detour for any player interested in endgame gear.

Completing all four mazes unlocks the Maze Pathfinder bronze trophy (PlayStation) or achievement (Xbox, Steam). This trophy also counts toward the Expert Explorer gold trophy, which requires clearing all nine Exploration Challenge subcategories.

Tips

• Start with the Ancient Rift Maze in Hernand. It is the most accessible maze early in the game and uses a straightforward puzzle mechanic.

• Upgrade Force Palm to tier 3 before attempting the Dawnreach Maze. Without the full upgrade chain, the leaning towers cannot be pushed fully upright.

• At the Desert Border Maze, check the central ground diagram carefully before starting to flip doors. Matching each door to the diagram saves time and avoids guesswork.

• Maze locations are marked on the map with Mysterious Energy icons (white question marks). If you see one in an area with multiple structures or ruins, it is likely a maze.

• Bring ranged weapons when exploring maze areas. Enemy factions at Burhum and Dawnreach can be dispatched more easily from elevated positions.

• Dead ends within maze areas sometimes contain loot chests. Explore thoroughly before rushing to the receptacle with your Engraved Stones.

Related Articles

• Exploration Challenges

• Spire Challenges

• Ancient Ruins Challenges

• Sanctum Challenges

• Abyss Cresset Locations

• Abyss Artifact

• Axiom Force

• All Puzzle Solutions

• All Challenges